The Only Education Worth Having
by QueenRiley
Summary: Scott and Ziggy bond over the one thing they have in common.


Thump, thump, smack.

Scott had been trying to sleep for hours it seemed. He'd actually been asleep at one point, a nice blissful sleep, but a rhythmic thumping had startled him awake. As if Flynn's snoring in the bunk above him wasn't distracting enough, the thump, thump, smack from somewhere else in the compound made it all the harder to get back to that wonderful restful sleep. He sighed and sat up. He grabbed a t-shirt off the floor and, hoping it was clean enough, pulled it over his head. Both Dillon and Ziggy's beds were empty. The bottom bunk across from him, Ziggy's bed, at least had freshly rumpled sheets. Ziggy had, at one point, been in here.

He trudged out into the walkway to find the source of the noise. It wasn't hard. Ziggy was sitting on the couch tossing a small rubber ball at the wall. It thumped against the wall, thumped against the floor as it bounced back to him, and smacked into his hand. It was very rhythmic. But it was also very late and they should all be sleeping. Scott was surprised he was the only one roused by it in the first place.

He walked up to Ziggy but got no reaction. Thump, thump, smack. Thump, thump. He reached out and caught the ball before it returned. Chocolate brown eyes met his own and Ziggy looked so lost, Scott couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy. Any anger he had, any stern words he was about to deliver, vanished. He sat down with a sigh.

"They aren't back yet," was all Ziggy said. Scott fingered the ball in his hand. It was smooth, green and black striped. It looked like one of those little balls you could get out of the quarter machines in the grocery store. He knew exactly who Ziggy meant.

"Oh." He had no other answer than that. Dillon and Summer had gone out on an actual date earlier. They'd left around dinnertime, assuring Scott they had their morphers should they be needed. It had burned him up, sent his insides churning in jealous anger, but it wasn't his place to say anything. Dillon had made his move where Scott had not. If he'd been brave enough, maybe Summer would be out with him tonight. Or then again, maybe not. Scott really had no clue how she felt about him and he wasn't about to broach the subject with her now.

"You like her, don't you?" Ziggy asked. Scott looked over. The younger ranger was staring at him. His eyes looked much older than his youthful face. Scott couldn't stand to be held in that gaze any longer and so looked down at the ball again. Black. It was always black with Ziggy.

"Yeah, I do. I missed my chance though. I can't exactly expect her to wait around for me to get up the guts to tell her, y'know?" Ziggy hummed low in his throat. Scott looked over at Ziggy again and found him staring forlornly out the open garage door. Scott recognized the sense of helplessness, hopelessness, the pain behind his eyes.

"Why are you still up, Zig?" he asked quietly. Ziggy let out a miserable little laugh.

"They aren't back yet," was his only reply. It was confirmation enough. He wanted to feel a surge of jealousy at have another competitor for Summer's heart, but he felt nothing but sympathy and remorse for the young man.

"You too?" he asked. Ziggy gave a curt nod and the surprised look on his face, guarded enough to hide something but startled enough to reveal he suspected a secret had been found out, suddenly made Scott wonder if he ought to ask if he were heartsick for Summer or Dillon. At the moment, Dillon seemed far more likely the candidate. Ziggy spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.

"He would not stay for me and who could wonder?

He would not stay for me to stand and gaze.

I shook his hand and tore my heart in sunder

And went with half my life about my ways."

"Poetry, Ziggy? I wouldn't have pegged you for that." Scott had his answer, but he wouldn't dwell on it. The last thing either of them needed was Ziggy feeling self conscious. He was insufferable enough as it was when he got antsy. He patted Ziggy's knee in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

"Let's just say Housman and I have a few things in common."

"Who's Housman?" a deep voice asked from off to their left. They both jumped at the noise. Dillon and Summer were standing in the doorway. They were holding hands and looking for all the world as if they'd just had the night of their lives. Dillon was even smiling. Dillon rarely smiled. Scott's heart nosedived into his stomach.

"Just some dead guy who wrote some stuff a long long time ago," Ziggy said. They watched as Dillon kissed Summer on the cheek, letting go her hand, before each made their way to their respective rooms for the night. Ziggy slouched further into the couch and Scott sighed.

"A mighty pain to love it is,

And 'tis a pain that pain to miss;

But of all pains, the greatest pain,

It is to love, but love in vain," Scott recited from long ago memory.

"The pain is the only education worth having," Ziggy responded with a sad little smile. Scott understood what he meant. He just wished it weren't so very true. They both sat in silence, staring at the wall. Scott rubbed his thumb against the small rubber ball he still clutched in the palm of his hand. Black and green stripes. He tossed it against the wall, angled slightly toward Ziggy.

Thump, thump, smack.


End file.
